A diabetic Brit was forced to sleep in a foreign airport overnight after a Ryanair "flight attendant was determined she wasn't getting on the plane" because of oversized hand luggage.
Teresa Bruce had travelled to Benidorm from Prestwick Airport with pals for a five-day trip just days earlier with the same bag.
But she was told by an employee of the Irish airline that she'd need to pay €69 (around £59) to place the suitcase in the hold.
The 63-year-old, from Irvine, Scotland, was out of cash and couldn't pay the hefty fee.
By the time a friend transferred her the money, the operator then said it was too late to board – despite Teresa saying there were still people on the steps at the plane.
The Asda worker told the Daily Record: "We were at the gate queuing for priority when a woman came up to me and told me to go with her and bring my suitcase.
"I went with her and she told me my suitcase was too big to go on the plane. I said 'how can it not come on the plane? I travelled here with it'.
"She told me I would have to pay €69 but it was the end of my holiday and I didn't have any money left.
"I couldn't understand why I needed to pay for the case when I had flown over from Prestwick with it just five days before."
Teresa desperately needed to get home that day to take medication for her Type 2 diabetes but was instead forced to sleep in the airport in a "frightening" experience.
"I need to take a jab every Thursday for my Type 2 diabetes and I didn't take it with me as it needs to be refrigerated. I was expecting to get home that day," she continued.
NASA terrified Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket will 'explode and destroy only route to ISS'
To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up for one of our free newsletters here .
"I asked to speak to a supervisor and said I was diabetic and had to get home for my medication.
"She said no and if I wanted to speak to anyone about it I would have to go back out through security to find someone, but by that point my flight would have already left."
At this point her friend stepped in and gave her the fee. "There were people still waiting to go on the stairs to get to the plane. If someone was running late they would have called out after that point and let them board," she explained.
"The flight attendant was determined I wasn't getting on that plane."
Teresa was then escorted through security and left to sleep in the airport overnight alone.
"To think Ryanair left a female in a foreign country on her own is absolutely shocking," Teresa, who flew to Edinburgh the next day, said.
Ryanair said: "As per Ryanair’s T&Cs which were accepted by the passenger at the time of booking, oversized cabin baggage must be placed in the hold of the aircraft for a standard fee."
Source: Read Full Article
